Normal Is What Works
by An Amber Pen
Summary: From the moment they meet, there's only one word to describe them: unconventional. But someone in a moment of wisdom said, "Normal is what works for you." Real Life/College AU


**Chapter 1: The One Without the Bridge**

"Oh, no. No no no, not today! Why did this have to happen today?"

Anna was convinced that she was about to experience a panic attack.

The reason for her prediction lay about twenty meters in front of her—well, technically it was raised at a forty-five-degree angle. The drawbridge that should have allowed Anna to cross the river into the western part of Archipelago City had been raised for a passing ship that was _slooowly_ making its way upriver.

"What am I going to do now?" the young red-haired girl asked the air as she worriedly gripped the sides of her head.

This was a problem because Anna's older sister, Elsa, was performing at a ballet recital located in the North District twenty minutes away on foot. The only other bridge that crossed the river into that part of the city would take Anna an extra twenty minutes to reach even at a steady run.

Don't misunderstand; Anna was a perfectly healthy and active eighteen-year-old, so there was no question that she could manage it…if she hadn't forgotten to charge her smart-phone the night before. Since a dead phone battery left Anna with no alarm, she slept in and woke up with only thirty minutes to make it to Elsa's recital. Now, ten of those minutes had been wasted getting to the same drawbridge that was currently only passable for the birds. Even though Anna firmly believed that where there was a will there was a way, she sincerely doubted she was capable of making herself sprout wings and fly to the recital.

Anna shut her sky-blue eyes to block out the sight of the raised bridge and give herself a clear head to think with. She took a deep breath and held it, pausing to wait for an idea to come to her…

Nope, she got nothing.

The breath Anna was holding came out in a rush as her hands dropped down to hang limp at her sides. She opened her eyes to stare balefully at the bridge before pivoting on her toes to look for any passersby that she could ask for help. However, it seemed like everyone except her had gotten the memo about the bridge being raised today. There was nobody on the pedestrian lanes except her.

"Figures," she muttered.

Anna felt like she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She was reluctant to make her mother or father leave the recital to come get her. Anna had insisted that she could get herself there on time, despite her car being in the shop after getting rear-ended, without needing to tag along to the committee meetings her parents had to attend earlier that morning. The problem was that paying to have her car repaired had cleaned out Anna's bank account, and she had forgotten about using the last of her cash for gas money before her car was wrecked.

Anna had no other choice but to call her parents like a wayward teenager.

However, just as the redhead was about admit defeat, someone rode onto the bridge on a sleek, black motorcycle and slipped between the lanes. Anna's eyes were latched onto the black-clad rider instantly, and she tracked their progress as they went smoothly up the road between the cars until they were almost at the stop sign before swinging the bike neatly between two cars. The rider crossed into the line of bollards that divided the four lanes and stopped there, steadying the bike with their feet as they took out something—likely a phone—from a pocket and fiddled with it. Now that they were clearly visible, Anna was able to see that the rider was wearing brown cargo pants, dark boots, a black leather motorcycle jacket with some kind of red patch on the right shoulder, and a full-face helmet covered in a graphic design that made it look more like a Viking battle helmet.

Anna was absolutely frozen in a moment of epiphany. She didn't know if it was divine intervention, nor did she care. She was simply grateful to the universe for lining up just once for her and throwing a lifeline.

Although, seeing that lifeline pull into the road and begin to drive away cut down on her excitement pretty quickly.

Anna would later swear that the next three seconds were the fastest she had ever moved in her life as she launched herself directly into the biker's path.

"WAIT!"

The person on the motorcycle screeched to a stop, stalling the engine and causing them to let out a startled curse that would have normally made the young woman blush, but Anna was on a mission now. Plus, half of her was internally squealing over how the bike had stopped less than half a meter away from her.

"I'm sorry! But, please, I need your help," she spoke quickly.

The biker yanked up the face shield on their helmet and stared at her with startled green eyes. "Great Odin's ghost! Are you crazy?!" they shouted. Even though it was muffled by the helmet, the rider's voice was distinctly male and had a nasally tone.

Anna was still panting from the adrenaline when she asked him, "You're trying to get across the river, right?"

The guy sputtered a bit, gesturing a little wildly with his hands. "Yes, but I think the better question is 'Are you trying to get yourself run over?'"

Anna met those green eyes head on and declared, "I'm sorry about that, but I need you to take me to the North District."

The rider went silent for a moment as he narrowed his eyes at her. "You do realize I'm not driving a taxi, right?" he asked slowly like he wasn't sure if she was crazy or not. Although, to be fair, the girl had just jumped in front of his motorcycle and asked for a lift.

Anna resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his tone before replying, "Yes, I'm aware of that, and I still want your help." And after a brief pause, she added, "Please."

The biker was still eyeing her warily. "Help with what exactly?"

Anna drew herself up as much as she could while maintaining eye contact. "Like I said, I want you take me across the river to the North District. I need to get to my sister's recital, but since my phone is dead and I'm broke, I have no way to get there in time except for you and your motorcycle."

The man's gaze became equal parts quizzical and concerned. "And you think asking a total stranger for a ride is a good idea because…?" he trailed off waiting for Anna to fill in the blank to his implied question.

The redhead bit her lip anxiously. He had an excellent point. Her parents had always drilled the concept of stranger danger into her head so, even though Anna was a social person, she still knew to be wary of people in situations where she might be at a disadvantage.

This principle certainly applied to the situation Anna was in at the moment.

But then she remembered the promise she made, why her parents trusted her, how Elsa would try to hide her disappointment from everyone.

So Anna drew herself up and answered the green-eyed stranger's question with all the solemnity of a judge announcing a prisoner's fate.

"Because I gave my word to my family that I would be there, and I don't want to disappoint them."

His eyes widened slightly as he got a good look at her earnest expression. "Oh, man, you're actually serious, aren't you?" he realized.

Anna nodded. "I wouldn't have jumped out in front of you if it wasn't really important," she admitted, "unless I happened to trip or fall over something because I tend to do that a lot, too, although that's always an accident on my part, not deliberate like this was, and—yeah." Anna cut herself off and looked away once she realized she was rambling.

There was silence from the biker for several seconds before Anna dared to look up at him again, biting her lip anxiously. His eyes were closed as he rubbed the back of his neck and heaved a sigh. Then, after muttering something like "Dad's gonna kill me," he fixed his green eyes on her once more.

"Alright," he groaned, "hop on. I'll give you a ride."

Anna's smile was so bright, it was blinding. She even did a fist pump and cheered aloud before rushing to do as the rider said.

While she was climbing on the back of the bike, rattling off directions and feeling vaguely grateful that she hadn't worn a skirt for once, Anna realized she didn't even know what name to call this helpful stranger.

"By the way, what's your name?" she asked leaning slightly forward to speak with him better over the rumble of the bike.

He turned so that he was looking at her over his shoulder. "My name is Heinrik, but everyone calls me Hiccup," he introduced himself.

The nickname was odd, but she didn't hesitate to flash a sweet smile and reply, "I'm Anna."

Heinrik's—or Hiccup's—eyes seemed to gleam for a moment in his helmet. "It's nice to meet you. Now, I know we just met, but you're gonna want to hold on tight to me. This bike goes pretty fast."

Anna let her smile dissolved into a daring smirk. "Don't worry. I like to go fast," she boldly proclaimed before slipping her arms around Hiccup's waist.

Hiccup's green eyes seemed to smirk, too, as he dropped his face-shield into place before facing forward. His voice took on a teasing note as he said, "If you say so."

Anna didn't get a chance to fire back a retort before he revved the bike and released the clutch. The young woman reflexively tightened her grip on the man in front of her as the bike leapt forward.

It took a few leaning turns for Anna to adapt to the way Hiccup moved with the bike before she became comfortable enough to loosen her grip and unglue her face from Hiccup's back. Any lingering nervousness on Anna's part was swept away by the wind as she sat up slightly and took notice of their speed. Hiccup was certainly being honest about how fast they could go. Even with her on the back, the young man wove through traffic and handled street corners with a practiced ease. Anna had to admit that it felt graceful somehow, even while her surroundings were blurred by the high velocity.

Minutes later, the two people on the bike pulled up to the curb directly in front of a theatre.

Hiccup pulled to a stop and turned his head towards Anna once more, asking her over the sound of his bike's engine, "This is the place you needed to go, right?"

The redhead checked the theatre's name— _The Regent—_ as well as the street signs—1st Snowflake Avenue. "Yep, this is the place," she confirmed.

Hiccup nodded and leaned down to switch off the bike. Anna glanced down at her watch—she had forgotten to take it off before bed last night which worked in her favor today—and saw that she had just over three minutes to spare before the show.

Anna sported an elated grin as she swung off of the motorcycle and turned to face Hiccup. Her legs were still a little wobbly because of the bike's powerful engine, and she knew her hair was a wind-blown mess, but that didn't detract anything from the rush she was feeling. Her smile widened into one of gratitude as she thanked him profusely.

"Seriously, you are my hero. Thank you so much, Hiccup!"

The green-eyed biker lifted his face-shield back up to meet her eyes. "Well, you did ask nicely after jumping in front of me on the street. Then you hit me with the puppy-dog eyes, so it was kind of hard for me to say no after that." His shoulders rose in a shrug.

Anna couldn't stop the blush from racing across her pale cheeks. "Right, sorry. But, anyway," she tried to wave off her embarrassment, speaking hurriedly now, "I owe you big-time so if you're ever at the Paint It Black With Cream café at the corner of Fjord and Market Street over in Berk District, just give them your name and tell them Anna wanted you to have the 'shining armor treatment'. You can get the first beverage in your order for free once a day, every day."

Hiccup's eyes widened in surprise. "Well, I don't think I've remotely earned a privilege of that league, but far be it from me to argue against free coffee."

Anna flashed him another smile as she started backing towards the theatre entrance, very aware that she was still pressed for time. "You went out of your way to help me today. I'd say you've definite-"

 _DONG!_

"OW! Oh—pole!" Anna glanced up then back to Hiccup, pointing at the light pole that she had just collided with and forcing out a self-depreciative chuckle. She sidestepped it, never shifting her focus away from the young man straddling his bike. "But yeah, don't worry. You've earned it. I mean, it's the least I can do to thank you for your help today, so—yeah, I need to go. I've gotta go. Inside. For the recital." Anna turned towards the theatre, paused, then half-turned back to wave shyly at him. "Bye."

And with that last word, she dashed inside to find her parents, thinking _Hopefully, they grabbed good seats._

But even if they hadn't, Anna would still consider this to be a good day even with the late start she had on it.

After all, it was the first time she had met someone worthy of 'shining armor treatment'.

 ***tentatively steps out from behind the curtain* Hi there! Don't mind me, just trying to recapture my creativity and figured this would be the right story to do it with. For those of you who might possibly remember me and my other stories, I really don't have any excuse for not writing in so long other than 'life' and 'reasons', so I won't waste text space trying to explain. But I will ask for your forgiveness, and just know that I never really left you guys.**

 **Also, my personal thanks to the very talented ThatDumbStoryteller for being my beta as well as my friend and also for his service. Seriously, people, go give him some love and virtual snickerdoodles. He deserves it! u/7466087/**

 **Oh, before I forget, standard disclaimer: I own nothing of Frozen or How To Train Your Dragon except the DVDs on my movie shelf, otherwise I would have a huge collection of free merchandise dotting every surface of my home.**


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